Heroes and Heroines
by Scifan
Summary: Season 5 spoiler based on The Prodical. Story started by Linda06. Teyla and John are in the infirmary and Teyla struggles to recall the memories from when she blacked out.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Thank you Linda for such a great beginning. And Happy Birthday to my friends in the JT thread for September. Hope you enjoy.

Heroes and Heroines

Dr. Jennifer Keller walks into the infirmary to check on Teyla, who was seriously injured after her last altercation with Michael. As she walks in Keller sees John sitting by Teyla's bed and holding her hand in his. His head is on the edge of the bed and he is fast asleep.

Keller has tried countless times to keep him in his own bed, because of the injuries he sustained with his own encounter with Michael, but to no avail.

Keller carefully checks Teyla's vitals. She smiles at John's tenderness towards Teyla and after seeing him like this she doesn't have the heart to make him go back to his bed. At least he was still in the infirmary where she can monitor them both.

A few hours later, Teyla begins to stir. John feels her hand moving slightly under his and looks up sleepily. He sees Teyla move slightly then wince.

"Doc!" John shouts and looks back down to Teyla.

"Teyla? Teyla, can you hear me?" John asks as he squeezes her hand a little tighter.

Teyla begins to open her eyes but the lights in the infirmary are too bright and closes them again. She flutters them until they get used to the light. When her eyes adjust she looks up and sees John standing over her.

Keller joins John at Teyla's bedside. The doctor checks Teyla's vitals. Once she is satisfied that everything is ok she looks down at Teyla and sees that she is in a little bit of pain and discomfort.

"Teyla?" Keller says and waits for a response.

"What..." Teyla tries to say but her throat is very dry and she starts to cough.

John and Keller see how much that hurts her by the look on her face. Once she stops coughing, John grabs a glass of water from the bedside table and lifts Teyla's head up slightly with his free hand and gives her a drink which she accepts very gratefully. John slowly puts her head back down on the pillow and puts the glass back on the table.

"What happened?" Teyla manages to say this time in almost a whisper.

"Don't you remember?" asks a worried John.

She frowns slightly. "Everything seems a bit unclear right now."

Teyla notices John's slightly pale complexion, "John?"

Her eyes quickly scans him, "You are injured as well?"

John silently nods, "I will be fine. What is the last thing you remember?"

Teyla's eyes sadden and she sighs, "I…I recall that Michael somehow used the stolen jumper to get into Atlantis. He erected a force field as well."

John gives her a warm smile, "That's right. He said that he had captured as well. What happened that allowed you to escape?"

Teyla's winces in pain and she pauses briefly, "He was overly confident of his accomplishments. So much so that he didn't watch me constantly. When his shield started to fail, he became distracted and irate towards his men. I took advantage of it."

Keller notices that John is turning paler and that he is holding his side where she had to stitch a deep laceration. Teyla sees the color drain from his face as well and that he is trying to fight off his fatigue.

"Ok, Colonel. I let you stay out of bed _way_ too long," Keller reprimands.

She also sees that there is blood coming through his scrubs. She carefully helps him back to his bed.

She releases a deep sigh, "And it looks like I'll have to stitch you up again. Now, stay here and I'll be right back."

Keller gives Teyla a look, as if to hint to her to keep an eye on him. Teyla nods to acknowledge that she understands.

John turns to look at Teyla, fighting as hard as he can to keep his eyes open. He sees that Teyla is growing worried.

He forces a smile, "Don't worry, Teyla. You know me. I've been through much worse."

Teyla can't help but smile.

In a short while, Keller comes back with a nurse. The redo John's stitches and redress his wound. She gives him some medicine for his pain and in no time he falls asleep.

Teyla is tired too, but her mind keeps racing. She tries to think about what had happened when she was fighting Michael and what led up to it. She sighs in frustration and eventually falls back to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Teyla holds Torren close to her chest and trying her best to soothe his little whimpering. He rubs his tiny face from side to side into her shoulder, indication to her that he is getting tired. She whispers in his ear an Athosian lullaby and he soon falls fast asleep. She gives him a kiss on his forehead and gently places him in his bed.

She turns away for just a moment, but when she looks back to check on Torren, he's gone.

"I'm sorry, Teyla," she hears John speak in the darkness. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect you and Torren."

She looks to see where John is and as he emerges from the shadows, she can see Michael standing behind him with a knife to John's throat. Her eyes widen with fear.

"Give me the child… I promise I will not hurt him, but I cannot promise the same for Colonel Sheppard," Michael says with an eerie and calm tone.

Teyla takes a deep breath, stands up straighter and tries to show a bold face, "I do not have him. I made sure that he is in a safe place."

Michael dawns a sinister smile, "I hope that he is not with his father."

Teyla looks confused.

"You may have thought that he was cured, but I still have a hold on him. He is fighting as hard as he can, but eventually he _will_ submit," Michael gloats.

"Don't believe him, Teyla. He's only trying to manipulate you," John blurts out just before Michael tightens his grip and angles the knife higher up his throat.

"Teyla, be reasonable. All I want is your child. Then I will be on my way and no one needs to be harmed," Michael says in a sly manner.

Outside her doorway, Teyla can hear the sound of Ronon's gun firing. Michael is temporarily distracted and John elbows him in the abdomen. They begin to struggle for the knife. A radio on Michael's belt announces that they found the child. Michael wastes no more time and plunges the knife into John's side, pulls it out and leaves quickly.

She watches helplessly as his body slumps to the ground and blood begins to flow onto the floor. As she nears him, his eyes begin to close and the room grows darker and cold. She can no longer see John.

All she can hear is his weak voice saying, "I'm sorry that I couldn't protect you and Torren."

She begins to scream, "John! Torren! No!"

She continues to scream over and over until John shakes her awake. She is still slightly disoriented, but she is so relieved to see him that she instinctively wraps her arms around him.

"It's ok. It's ok. It was just a bad dream," John consoles her.

She pulls away from him and her eyes widen, "Where is Torren?"

John smiles, "Just relax. He's ok. He's with Lorne right now. He said something about missing his nephews."

"So, Michael didn't get him?" she asks.

John shakes his head no. She notices a light cut on John's neck that she didn't notice before. She reaches up and lightly touches it.

"Oh that," he says casually. "It's just a minor souvenir from Michael."

Her eyes sadden and follow John's hand as he grabs his side.

"He did that as well?" she asks.

John hangs his head as if in shame, "I'm sorry Teyla that…"

She raises her hand to cover his lips, "There is no need to apologize. What happened after that?"

"Well, after Michael stabbed me, I encourage you to leave me to protect Torren. I must've passed out. The next thing I knew, I was in the infirmary. Dr. Keller said that Rodney found me and that Ronon was with you," John explains.

"And Kanaan?" Teyla asks.

"I think you need to talk to Ronon about that," he says with remorse.


	3. Chapter 3

Ronon and Rodney walk into the infirmary to visit John and Teyla. They both know, from Keller, which Teyla has been asking what happened during her confrontation with Michael. Ronon lags behind and tries to hide his grim look, but it is still obvious to Teyla.

Ronon slowly walks over to Keller and whispers to her, "Are you sure she's ready for this?"

Keller sighs, "Probably not, but we can only hold off the news for so long before she starts demanding the truth."

Teyla can't hear what Ronon and Keller are saying, but she can tell it is really serious. Rodney sees John gesturing for him to say something.

Rodney forces a smile, "So, how are you feeling?"

Teyla's gaze slowly turns away from Ronon and Keller and onto Rodney, but she is still slightly distracted.

"As well as expected under these circumstances," Teyla responds blankly.

"Well, I for one am glad this day is over. I didn't think Zelanka and I would ever succeed in overriding Michael's codes to cancel the self-destruct," Rodney says with exhaustion in his tone. "I swear I could've done things faster without Radek if he only…"

"Rodney," John interrupts Rodney's rant and gives him a disciplinary look.

Teyla gives a weak smile, "Well, I am grateful to the both of you."

Rodney returns a slight grin, "Thanks."

An uncomfortable silence makes Rodney a little nervous, "Um, is there anything I can get you? Maybe something from the cafeteria, like blue gelatin or… Oh, popcorn! How about that?"

Teyla looks at him suspiciously and glances and John, who lowers his head and slightly turns his head away. Ronon is attempting to leave the infirmary, but Keller insists that he stay.

"Ronon," John says softly. "You need to tell her. She needs to know."

Teyla's eyes widen, "Tell me what? Ronon, what has happened?"

Ronon looks at Teyla with saddened eyes, "I killed Kanaan."

Teyla's breathing quickens, "What?"

"Teyla, please let him tell you the whole story before you say anything else," Keller urges.

Ronon leans against the doorway and sighs, "It happened all so fast. I was firing and chasing some of Michael's men. Then out of nowhere, Michael starts attacking me and we begin to fight. He had a knife, but I was able to knock it out of hand."

Ronon steps away from the door way and begins to pace a little, "Somehow he got the better of me and threw me across the room. That's when you came in. I'd never seen you so angry. I even think that it somehow made you stronger, because you were almost going blow for blow. You were giving it to him as much as you were taking it."

Teyla looks at him impatiently, as if to hint to him to move on with the story.

Ronon clears his throat, "Sorry. I was about to help you until some more of Michael's men attacked me. You held your own for quite a while." Ronon smiles at the thought of it.

"I couldn't get to you before Michael finally defeated you," Ronon continues. "He had you pinned down to the floor and his knife raised. He must've gotten it back during your fight."

Ronon turns to look at John, "Somehow Sheppard must've got out into the corridor and got a gun from one our men that was dead. He was about to shoot Michael, but Kanaan came up from behind with Torren."

"Wa… wa.. wait a minute? I don't remember that!" John interrupts. He looks at Keller. "You said Rodney found me?"

She straightens up herself, "Um, well he did. He…"

Ronon gestures for her to stop, "I'll explain. As Sheppard was aiming at Michael, Kanaan placed Torren in one of the doorways and grabbed a gun from the floor. He aimed it to Sheppard's head and demanded for him to let Michael go with the baby."

Teyla's eyes begin to tear and as well as Ronon's.

He begins to choke up, "Shep… Sheppard lipped to me to kill Michael. To save you, but instead I killed Kanaan as Sheppard tried to kill Michael."

Ronon's voice cracks slightly, "I'm sorry Teyla."

"Kanaan tried to kill John and he was going to give Torren to Michael?" Teyla asks in shock.

"It happened so quickly. I'm sure he was being controlled by Michael, but I couldn't take the chance," Ronon replies in a pleading tone.

Teyla nods amongst her grief.

"And I didn't think that Sheppard would miss, but he shot Michael in the shoulder. The same arm that he had his knife in. Michael ran away like a coward, you picked up the knife and we went after him. When you finally got a clear shot, you threw the knife and killed him," Ronon finishes.

Keller steps up closer to Teyla, "That's when I think Rodney found Colonel Sheppard unconscious. We almost lost him."

Teyla turns towards John and gives him a grateful look then turns back to Keller, "What about Torren?"

"Major Lorne was with Rodney and he helped take care of him. He was more than happy to do so," Keller replies.

"I am still confused though," Teyla begins. "How was I able to do all you have said, but still be severely injured?"

Keller smirks, "Pure adrenaline. I'm not sure if your Wraith DNA helped, which I'm assuming it did, but I know Ronon said that you collapsed shortly after everything was done. You had internal bleeding, broken ribs and I can go on and on."

John looks at Ronon seriously, "You took an awfully big chance on counting on me. You should've just killed Michael and not worry about me."

Teyla can hear the slight tone of remorse in John's voice, "Then you would not been alive for me to thank you."

"Not much to thank me for. I missed remember," John retorts.

"I would not have had the pleasure of killing Michael, even thought at this moment I do not remember," she replies.

John closes his eyes, smirks and slowly shakes his head. Ronon slowly walks up to Teyla's bedside and is about to apologize, but Teyla stops him.

She places a gentle hand on his arm, "You did what you had to do to protect John, and my son. I am saddened by the final outcome, but I am also truly grateful."

Ronon slowly nods his head in understanding.

Keller begins to escort Ronon and Rodney out of the infirmary, "Ok. I think there has been enough excitement for now. I think Teyla needs to absorb everything and she and John both need some rest."

Keller turns back to Teyla with a smile, "Later, I have planned to have your son come in to visit for a little while."

Teyla grins widely, "I appreciate it. Thank you."

John closes his eyes and lets the pain medicine help him drift back to sleep. Teyla observes him intensely. She sighs at the thought of how one man would risk his very life for her while another would jeopardize it.


	4. Chapter 4

John wakes up early in the morning and Teyla is still sleeping. He carefully and quietly gets out of bed to see if he can find Keller. He finds her just around the corner at one of her work stations. He quietly calls her name and she is startled.

John makes an apologetic face, "Sorry, Doc. I didn't mean to scare you."

She gives him a weak smile and sighs, "Oh, that's ok."

She looks a little concern, "You're up awfully early, are you feeling all right?"

"Yes… I was just wondering about something," he begins with some apprehension. "I just have a question."

Keller's eyes slightly widen, "Oh, ok."

She pulls a chair in front of her and gestures for John to sit down.

"Thanks, Doc," he begins. "I'm just worried about Teyla's memory loss. How long will she have it?"

Keller takes a deep breath, "Well… it depends. It may be days, months or she may never remember. Sometimes, something might trigger the suppressed memory and it will come back all of a sudden."

John's face shows his concern, "Thanks again, Doc."

John is about to leave, but Keller stops him, "Colonel, she's going to need a lot of help for the next several weeks. It's not going to be easy taking care of a baby with all her injuries."

John smiles, "Don't worry. I'm sure there'll be plenty of people that will want to help her with Torren and I'll make sure once she's out of here that we help even more."

Keller smiles back, "I'm sure she'll appreciate that. Oh, and speaking of when she gets out… I was planning on releasing the both of you today. If you want you can go now since you're already up."

"Really?" he says with slight excitement. "I think I'll do that and I'll make sure to let everyone that Teyla is going to need continuing help while she's healing."

"Just don't overdo it yourself. You have to be careful with those stitches," she demands.

"Ok, Doc." John says hurriedly as he gathers his clothes so he can change and leave.

--

Teyla is happy to be out of the infirmary. John had returned to the infirmary to walk her back to her room. She know that he said he was doing it to make sure she got back ok, but she had a feeling he was doing for other reasons, though she wasn't sure what.

When they reach her quarters she hesitates to enter. John gives her a concerned look, but she dismisses it. She smiles as they enter and she sees Dr. Porter sitting on the couch reading.

Porter gets up and whispers as she points to Torren's room, "I just got him to sleep, so you should be set for a couple of hours or so." She smiles widely. "You have such a sweet boy."

Teyla beams like a proud mother, "Thank you very much."

Teyla notices an odd looking, small, wheeled vehicle in the corner of the room. John sees Teyla's confused look.

"It's called a stroller. This way you can walk around with Torren without holding him the whole time." John begins explaining. "I guess Woolsey had asked SGC to send one through the gate. Once they knew why, they didn't have any problem with sending one through."

Teyla still didn't look to sure about it.

"Oh, he loves it," Porter expresses. "We got it yesterday along with a baby monitor. Torren loves playing with the toys on the stroller and it helps him fall asleep too." Porter begins to leave. "I'm sure you'll enjoy it. Let me know if you need me. I'll be more than happy to watch him again."

Teyla thanks Porter again and then walks over to the stroller to inspect it more closely. She rolls it back and forth, and chuckles slightly at the toys.

"Do you like it?" John asks quietly as he stands next to her.

"I am unsure, but I am sure I will get use to it. Especially since he is beginning to get heavier," Teyla says with a smirk.

There is a brief uncomfortable pause.

"Well, I guess I'll let you get some rest before the kid wakes up," John announces.

"No. Please stay," Teyla blurts out as she lays a hand on his upper arm.

John gives her a worried look, "You ok?"

She nods yes, "It is just… I…"

John can tell that she didn't want to be alone.

"That's ok," he interrupts. "I'll stay as long as you need me too. What would you like to do?"

They both sit on the couch and begin some small talk, but it doesn't talk long for Teyla to get sleepy. John shows her the baby monitor and explains what it does.

"I'll take this one. I'll be able to hear you, but I just can't talk to you. I'll keep it in my quarters. Otherwise, just use the comm.…. either way, I'll be here if you need me," John says gently.

He helps her settle into her bed before he leaves.

--

During the next several weeks, many people helped Teyla, including Ronon and Rodney, but none as much as John. There were even a few nights where she got up in the middle of the night and found John lying on the couch with Torren stretched out on top of John's chest.

John's excuse always remained the same each time. He insisted that he heard Torren fussing on the monitor and he wanted to make sure she got the sleep she need. She tried not to show how it amused her, but he always caught her and then tried to dismiss it, as if it wasn't a big deal.

--

John is cleared to return to duty, but Keller wants to make Teyla wait one more week, even though her injuries are mostly healed. John sees Teyla in the corridor and stops her.

"Hey," he says with a playful smile. "I heard that Torren is with Halling for a few hours. I'm going to the gym in about a half an hour, Ronon and I are going to do some hand to hand sparring. Would you like to watch or at least give me some pointers on how to beat him?'

"Yes. I would like that," Teyla replies happily.

"Good. I'll see you then," John says before he jogs away.

Teyla watches him until he is no longer in sight. She can't help feel a sense of happiness well up inside her every time they spend time together. It's a lot stronger now than any time prior and she sees it in John's eyes too, even though he wouldn't openly admit it.

She chuckles slightly to herself, as she thinks about how well she knows John before she heads to the mess hall to meet Jennifer for some tea.

--

Teyla stays longer with Jennifer than expected before she realizes she is late to go to the gym. She reassures the doctor that she will not participate in the sparring before she rushes off.

When she gets to the gym, John and Ronon are already practicing. John tries to concentrate on Ronon, but he can see Teyla enter the room from the corner of his eye.

"It's about time you get here," John says teasingly. "I'm getting my butt kicked here."

"And when are you not?" Teyla quips back.

Ronon can't help but to chuckle at her remark, "She's got you there."

"Ha. Ha. Ha," John says with a disgruntled tone. "Can we just get back to what we were doing?"

"Sure," Ronon simply replies as he shrugs his shoulders.

Ronon lunges towards John with a small object in his hand and John successfully blocks, but as John turns his gaze slightly to Teyla, Ronon takes advantage of it. He is able to grab John's arm and bend it behinds his back, rendering John helpless. Ronon then brings the small object to John's throat. It's a knife.

Teyla freezes in fear as a flood of painful memories overwhelms her. Both Ronon and John see the change in her demeanor and rush to her side. John orders Ronon to radio Keller.

"Teyla," John pleads to get her attention. "Are you hurt? What's happening?"

Teyla turns her gaze to the knife in Ronon's hand, "I remember… everything."

John sees that she is staring at the knife and her eyes begin to water, "Oh, Teyla. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to…"

Teyla shakes her head, "There is no need to apologize."

Keller arrives in no time and she's about to examine Teyla, but Teyla insists that she is fine.

"I just took me by surprise, that is all," Teyla reassure them.

"How about I go with you back to your quarters then?" John suggests. Teyla nods to agree.

"Are you sure?" Keller asks.

"Yes," Teyla answers with a forced smile.

In a short time, John and Teyla arrive at her quarters and sit down on her couch. John notices her shaking, he grabs a blanket and wraps it around her.

"Do you want to talk about it?" John gently asks.

At first, Teyla says no, but then she changes her mind and tears fill her eyes.

"I think seeing Ronon with the knife to your throat reminded me of when Michael had you in a similar position and brought back my suppressed memories." She pauses. "I think the thought of losing both you and Torren set me in a blind rage. I remember feeling that I was about to lose everything if I didn't stop Michael."

John wipes the tears away that begin to trickle down her face, "It's over now and we're all safe. Michael is dead and he can't hurt you or Torren anymore."

John brings his hand to his ear to click on his radio, "Yes, Doc… No, she's doing a little better… Oh, well… um, let me ask her."

John turns to Teyla, "Dr. Keller said that Halling wishes to keep Torren until tomorrow, but if you want him back, I'll get him personally."

"No," she says abruptly. "I don't want you to leave."

John is a little surprised, "Oh, um… ok. Uh, what about Torren? Do you want him to stay with Halling?"

Teyla simply nods her head yes and John informs Keller.

John sees the sad look on Teyla's face, "What?" He gently lifts her chin to see her better.

She pauses to choose her words carefully and regain her composure, "I almost lost the two most important men in my life and it frightens me how it affected me when I thought I would lose you and Torren."

John put his arm her and pulls her closer and she nestles up against him, "Well, I'll try to make sure to stay away from your bad side."

Teyla appreciates John attempt to lighten the moment, but she can't displace her feelings, "John, I… it…it is customary with our people that the women wait for the men to… to…"

"Makes the first move," John interjects.

He can feel her head nod yes against his chest. His heart begins to race. He wanted to make sure she had time to heal, both physically and emotionally, but now he is almost certain to what she is referring to.

"Are you sure?" he asks nervously.

She sits up so she can see him better and smiles lovingly, "Yes, I am sure."

John cups his hands around her face and slowly draws her closer. It was not there first kiss, but it was the first that she had openly wanted. It is sweet, loving and powerful enough to erode any emotional walls they had once erected.

Before he sweeps her up into his arms he asks her one more time, "Are you sure? Dr. Keller said you had one more week for healing. I don't…"

Teyla places a finger in front of his lips to gesture him to stop talking, "I will be fine and I know you will be careful."

He carries her to her bed and there they finally express their love for each other. They both had imaged this moment in different times of their lives, but they never expected to really happen.

As Teyla cuddles up against John's warm body she can't help but to feel that her life is finally complete. She has a son that she absolutely adores and the man that she loves is now by her side.

John can't help but feel content for the first time in his life. The woman that's he's loved from the first day he met her, is with him. He feared that he would lose her if this ever happened in the past, but now; he no longer has that fear. He doesn't even understand it himself, but it is just a feeling he has. He loves both Teyla and her son and he can't see that changing.

The End.


End file.
